CAPE TOWN , South Africa -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The girl sleeping in the bunk above me either had Swine Flu , SARS , Tuberculosis or some sort of perfect storm of all three , because she managed to hack and snort throughout the entire night in an almost exact pattern of : Hack . Hack . Hack . Snort . Snort .

The sharks arrived and disappeared quickly .

I only mention this because I had to be up at four 4 a.m. to get picked up for my day of shark cage-diving , and , clearly , I was n't getting too much sleep .

Not a good start . Nevertheless , I managed to get out of bed on time , and actually felt pretty decent as we drove two hours from Cape Town to some quiet fishing village where about 30 cold , tired backpackers squeezed onto an old boat and into the sea in search of great white sharks . Somebody had to say it : `` We 're gon na need a bigger boat . ''

But tight as it was on board , we survived , and soon found ourselves bobbing over the waves as small fish began to circle the chum . Eventually , the sharks came -- and they were amazing !

More importantly , it was probably the closest I 'll ever get to a great white without A -RRB- dying or B -RRB- soiling myself . See Jarrett 's shark-diving adventure ''

But just as quickly as the sharks arrived , they were gone . Cold and tired , an uncomfortable boredom overtook the tourists , interrupted only by the occasional roar of projectile vomit .

As a scientific study , this symphony of motion sickness was about as fascinating as the sharks . As it turns out , the English seemed to be the ones most affected by the sea . Now , maybe this has something to do with their biology , or maybe this has something to do with England beating Croatia 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier the night before . Either way , I found it interesting that our friends across the pond were collectively becoming violently ill .

One would have thought this would have attracted more sharks -- that fine , rich mixture of lager and pies -- but the seas remained great white-free .

In all , it was sort of a bittersweet experience . Being that close to such spectacular sharks was a rare , lifetime opportunity , but of all my South African experiences , this was the most expensive and , in many ways , the least rewarding . Of course , I chalk this up mostly to the early start and cold weather , but , even at its best , I 've definitely had better times in my life .

That said , I 'm glad I did it -- you know , before I die from a rare new strain of Swine-Flu-SARS-tuberculosis .

Hack . Hack . Hack . Snort . Snort .

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CNN.com 's Jarrett Bellini is traveling in South Africa

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Readers chose his destination and can share their travel suggestions

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Bellini will provide updates from South Africa on CNN.com and CNN.com Live